


Snowed In

by robindrake93



Series: Fluffcember 2020 [30]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Cold Weather, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dionysus Is A Cat, Fluff, Leopard Dionysus, M/M, One Shot, POV Third Person, Pegasus - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:06:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28427511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robindrake93/pseuds/robindrake93
Summary: There's a blizzard and Dionysus has to find Luke.
Relationships: Luke Castellan/Dionysus
Series: Fluffcember 2020 [30]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2035222
Kudos: 20





	Snowed In

**Author's Note:**

> To change the font to black, click "Hide Creator's Style." 
> 
> Don't reupload/repost my fics.

They were missing a brat and the temperature was dropping to below freezing. As far as Dionysus was concerned, the brat could freeze. It was no skin off his nose. But that made Chiron upset and nag about how if one of them froze, fifty years would be added to his sentence. So the god gave in and left the noisy Big House to search. He knew the one he was looking for, of course. It was his favorite one. The feral boy. One of Hermes’ spawn. They called him Luke. 

Stepping outside the Big House, the world was suddenly quiet in the muffled way a good snowfall made it. Dionysus was the one who allowed it to snow within camp’s borders, but even he couldn’t control the temperature. So even if he didn’t allow so much as a single snowflake to touch the ground, the brats could still freeze. 

Dionysus checked all twelve cabins first because they were the most likely places to find the feral brat. But being a feral brat, Luke liked to hide in places that weren’t immediately obvious. Probably due to all the time he’s spent dodging adults and monsters. The logic didn’t help to ease his annoyance at being out in the first place. This was winter - his time of dying - and he didn’t have the energy to search the entire camp. 

The snow came down harder than before, sticking to the ground like a cloak. Dionysus stood ankle deep in the snow, glowering, anger pooling in his veins like wine in a barrel. He shed his summer skin, too tired to keep up the glamour. One more place, he told himself. He would search for Luke in one more place and then write the brat off...no matter the consequences. Dionysus trudged through the snow toward the stables. 

The feral brat was smart. He would go where he could keep warm. The stables were warmed by the bodies of the pegasi. The sturdy roof and walls would keep out the wind and snow. And the hay would be a good place to sleep when compared to sleeping on concrete and in the dirt. 

So it did not surprise Dionysus at all when he went into the stables and found Luke tucked in a stall with a roan pegasus. Like a cub coming out of the cold, Luke was half hidden beneath the wing of the pegasus, pressed in tight to her side in an attempt to share body heat. Pegasi didn’t normally lay down but he must have coaxed her into it. Pegasi were sentimental when it came to demigods, especially ones they liked and Luke had managed to make friends with them immediately. It probably helped that he stole sugar cubes from the Big House to feed them. 

At fourteen, Luke was smaller and scrawnier than he should have been. He was painfully skinny, knees knobby and bones protruding and face angular with hunger. His pale face was made paler with cold, as though the temperature had sapped the tan he’d had from long summers outdoors. Even curled against the warm body of a pegasus, underneath the creature’s wing, Luke trembled. He had no jacket, nothing but a t-shirt and the shorts he’d arrived at camp in. The shorts were high on his thighs from a growth spurt over the summer. It was a good thing most boys had no butts and narrow hips, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to wear them anymore. Luke gazed up at Dionysus with eyes the pale, washed out blue of a desert sky. “What?” There was a lot wrapped up in that one word. 

Dionysus didn’t bother to unpack it. He didn’t care about whatever trauma the kids went through. It wasn’t his problem. What he did care about was the defiance, but he could ignore it. Dionysus sneered down at the pathetic cub. “You brats aren’t allowed to freeze to death on my watch.” 

Luke’s eyes narrowed. His lip curled in a silent snarl of disgust. He didn’t speak, which was the only thing that saved him from spending the rest of his life as a dolphin, but he _did_ look at Dionysus with an expression of judgemental disgust as though Dionysus was a cockroach that crawled across his path. 

That would not do. No one looked at Dionysus like he was _less_ than them. It was his turn to snarl but when he did, he shifted shapes yet again. On four legs, with teeth two inches long, and powerful muscles rippling beneath his spotted coat, Dionysus was an apex predator. He roared, jaws opening hugely to show off just how sharp his fangs were. He unsheathed his claws, sinking them into the dirt and straw. 

The pegasus’ feathers ruffled. Her ears flicked back and the whites of her eyes showed. But she stayed laying beside Luke. The pegasi didn’t have anything to fear from the god. He had never treated them badly before and this wasn’t their first time seeing him in his leopard skin. She was worried about the cub, Dionysus realized with irritation. 

Luke’s pale eyes widened in surprise. Then he had the nerve to laugh. 

Dionysus lashed his tail in irritation. The fur along his spine bristled. 

“D, you’re a lot less intimidating as a pussy cat,” Luke said. As a _what?!_ “No matter how big you are,” Luke finished. There was something like admiration in Luke’s gaze. 

It was the exact opposite of what Dionysus had expected. Feral children did not react well to apex predators. Then again, this was an _urban_ feral child...his sole experiences were with monsters and other humans. This was unexpected and Dionysus had half a mind to claw Luke’s face off. 

Luke held out a hand like Dionysus was a stray kitten instead of a massive leopard. “Why don’t you stay here with me...us? I bet you’re tired of the kids tromping through your house and it’s snowing pretty bad out there.” His blue eyes weren’t feral; they were enticing, like watching water move beneath a frozen lake. It was disconcerting. 

This one, Dionysus realized, inherited his father’s ability to weasel his way out of anything. It was a rare and _very_ dangerous power. And yet...Luke was right. 

Dionysus _was_ tired of being around the other brats with their noise and their lights and all of their needs. He huffed so that Luke knew he was still annoyed and they would be coming back to this at a later date. Then he joined Luke beneath the pegasus’ wing, pressing against his other side so that Luke was sandwiched between them. It surprised him how cold Luke’s skin was even through his fur. 

Luke didn’t hesitate to press against Dionysus’ fur to soak up his body heat. He was trembling with the cold, breath coming in shuddering gasps. He pushed his face into Dionysus’ side like the helpless cub he was. His nose was cold. Luke’s hands stayed trapped between them, and once they stopped shaking, he ran his fingers over Dionysus’ fur. 

Dionysus rested his head on his paws, tail tip flicking. This was annoying. The brat had better not tell anyone about this. But at the same time...the petting was nice. And it had been a long time since he’d had another body beside him. The stables were warm and blessedly quiet. No one was demanding anything of him here except his presence. 

Once Luke stopped shivering, warmed between the bodies of two animals, he whispered, “Thank you for looking for me, D.” 

There was a lot there too, words behind his words, shadows on his tongue, meaning swirling beneath the surface. But Dionysus didn’t care to unravel that either. He flicked Luke with his tail and then wrapped it around the cub. 

Luke gave a soft laugh, then nuzzled Dionysus’ side. He didn’t speak after that, content to wait out the snowstorm in silence.


End file.
